Happy Christmas 2016

I don’t have many traditions on this blog (other than posting quite irregularly, of course). However, I’ve tried to maintain a Christmas day tradition. I missed doing it in 2015, so wanted to be sure to get back on track this year.

Each Christmas I post this Isaiah passage (which is a reading for Christmas Eve worship every year); Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over)”, which I find the world’s best and most challenging Christmas song; and a second song that changes each year.

Isaiah 9:2-7:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined…For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.

No, not “all the boots of the tramping warriors” or “all the garments rolled in blood” have been burned as fuel just yet. But I do believe there will be a day when both the weapons and the uniforms of war will be obsolete. I think that’s why I like “Happy Christmas” so much: it simultaneously acknowledges the reality of evil in the world and reminds us, with Isaiah, to hope for – and actively strive for – a better future. A war-free future.

Yes, our sisters and brothers in Israel/Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, and so many other places, know all too well that war isn’t over. I’m convinced the Prince of Peace wants all wars to end. To worship the babe born in Bethlehem means facing reality, means seeking to end war. But following God in the way of Jesus also means we don’t believe in hopelessness. It means we’ve got some work to do.

(Trigger warning: some images involves children, many are difficult to watch.)

Previously, I’ve made the second song a light-hearted or even silly offering. However, 2016 being what it has been, I just don’t have it in me. All the shootings here in Chicago, multiple friends in pain over broken relationships, all the celebrity deaths, mass slaughter in Aleppo, the appalling election, the hateful acts and words towards people of color and other marginalized groups as celebration of Trump’s win, and my dad’s death combine to make 2016 pretty terrible.

Still, I refuse to lose all hope. Many friends are standing up to racism and hate in myriad ways. People in my congregation continue to feed the hungry and provide shelter for those experiencing homelessness. I still believe that the “moral arc of the universe is long and bends toward justice.”

Instead of a silly song, how about a “Happy Christmas” cover? Sarah McLachlan’s work with Bare Naked Ladies on “Good Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” remains an all-time favorite of mine. Though her cover here is not new, it is new to me this year. A double-dose of imagining war is over is just what I need. Maybe the same is true for you.

Merry Christmas from the Buerstetta’s to all who celebrate it! Happy Holidays to all other traditions!